I like to believe that every modern-day affliction and illness once had adaptive and evolutionary value, or else it that affliction wouldn't exist in the first place. Well, in the spirit of the New Year, there is none better than depression, not only so we can understand what use it may have once had to our ancestors, but rather why, from an evolutionary standpoint, depression exists in the first place. As suicide kills more people every year than murder and war combined, I believe it is imperative for us to get to the bottom of one of the world's most devastating illnesses.

Depression is known to run in families, and it is no surprise that depression and mental illness have genetic components to them. To our surprise, however, researchers Andrew Miller and Charles Raison, physicians at Emory University and the University of Arizona, respectively, have proposed that the same genes that increase a person's risk for depression also enhance immunity to infections. "Most of the genetic variations that have been linked to depression turn out to affect the function of the immune system," Miller said. The hypothesis is that these genes were adaptive in helping people not die of infection in a world where life expectancy was significantly lower.

It's no surprise that afflictions like depression, anxiety, and mental illness have been more prevalent in our modern-day age. The current life expectancy in the U.S. is 78.7 years, compared to the approximate 40-year-old life expectancy of pre-industrial England. Without infections like tuberculosis and pneumonia to worry about, it is unsurprising that people have more time to be depressed in our modern era.

The genes that have a predisposition to depression are mutated variations of the "NPY" gene. Mutated versions of the gene allowed our ancestors to have increased inflammation, especially in early childhood when we are most vulnerable to infection. As individuals with the mutated NPY gene were more likely to survive, more and more copies of the gene were passed on to their offspring.

Recently, researchers at the University of Michigan found that people with depression were more likely to have a mutated NPY gene. Functioning normally, the gene codes for a neurotransmitter that increases tolerance to stress and made us less likely to be depressed. In ancestral environments, however, the trade-off for extended survival was often depression. According to Miller and Raison, acute stress was usually linked to physical harm or wounds, most of which led to death, or infections that easily led to death. As a result, evolution favored the selection of individuals with immune systems that operated under a "smoke-detector principle," a principle that reacted readily to false alarms of infection as well as actual infection.

"Immune responses to acute stress are typically not necessary -- not every stressful situation results in a wound and infection. However, if our ancestors became wounded even a single time and didn't experience a piqued immune response, they might die from an infection," writes Brian Gabriel of The Atlantic.

According to Miller, depressive symptoms like social withdrawal, and loss of energy were once advantageous to our ancestors. A loss of energy often was a symptom of the body using all of its energy to fight infection. Social withdrawal often was a symptom of avoiding exposure to additional infectious agents. Recently, the two researchers have worked on targeting inflammation to treat depression, with varying degrees of success. In patients with elevated inflammation, a drug that disrupted communication between immune cells worked.

I have said it before, but the findings in the Andrews and Raison study support the claim that depression is not a sign that something is wrong with you, even from an evolutionary standpoint. Like for our ancestors, depression, even now, is a sign that there is a situation or infection so serious that we need to devote all our energy to battling it and withdraw from others to avoid further damage or harm. We suffer when depressed, but we do not do so in vain.

Although it is a stretch to name any advantages of depression, two other researchers have shown that rumination, the foremost symptom and cause of depression, may lead to improved outcomes in our modern lives. Andy Thomson of UVA and Paul Andrews of VCU have found that the awful symptoms of depression "reduced the possibility of becoming distracted from the pressing problem." We need to pay attention to what underlies our depression. Say a family member just died or you went through a divorce: who wouldn't ruminate about those pressing life events? "Human attention is a scarce resource -- the neural effects of depression make sure the resource is efficiently allocated." The result is, because of our ruminations, we become much more analytical and deliberate in our thought processes.

Many people may see the two research papers' findings about the advantageous and evolutionary values of depression to be mere justifications for human suffering. It is true that these evolutionary and adaptive theories about depression only apply when an identifiable stressor is causing the illness. We know that sometimes depression can strike for seemingly no reason. But normalizing is not romanticizing, and I do not see a world where drugging away our problems is a feasible means of advancing the human species forward. I do not question that medication is the best way to treat some people afflicted with depression, but it is not the only way.

Sadness and unpleasant emotions do have their benefits: psychologist Joe Fargas has recently found that negative moods lead to better decisions in more complex situations. Paul Andrews later found that negative moods led to improved analytical abilities. Depressed people were found to think better. But "that is the paradox of evolution: even if our pain is useful, the urge to escape from the pain remains the most powerful instinct of all."

Thomson has one anecdote about how his theory of rumination has affected his medical practice. He has cut down significantly on antidepressant prescriptions because he believes the drugs can interfere with genuine recovery. One patient came in and requested a reduced dosage of antidepressants. The antidepressants were working great, and in fact, the patient told him that "I feel so much better." However, she also told him "I'm still married to the same alcoholic son of a bitch. It's just now he's tolerable."

There is usually a reason for depression and something behind it, even if that reason is not something we can see in the moment. It is a message to ourselves that our needs aren't being met. Part of fighting depression is by identifying a single problem, or perhaps the many problems we need to solve, and then making a long-term plan to solve them. It is a long, difficult, and tedious path, and at times it seems impossible, but the role of most therapists and counselors is so we know we do not face these problems isolated and alone, that we have guides who will walk with us on our journeys.

To The Person Who Feels Suicidal But Doesn't Want To Die

Suicidal thoughts are thought of in such black and white terms. Either you have suicidal thoughts and you want to die, or you don't have suicidal thoughts and you want to live. What most people don't understand is there are some stuck in the gray area of those two statements, I for one am one of them.

I've had suicidal thoughts since I was a kid.

My first recollection of it was when I came home after school one day and got in trouble; and while I was just sitting in the dining room I kept thinking, “I wonder what it would be like to take a knife from the kitchen and just shove it into my stomach." I didn't want to die, or even hurt myself for that matter. But those thoughts haven't stopped since.

I've thought about going into the bathroom and taking every single pill I could find and just drifting to sleep and never waking back up, I've thought about hurting myself to take the pain away, just a few days ago on my way to work I thought about driving my car straight into a tree. But I didn't. Why? Because even though that urge was so strong, I didn't want to die. I still don't, I don't want my life to end.

I don't think I've ever told anyone about these feelings. I don't want others to worry because the first thing anyone thinks when you tell them you have thoughts about hurting or killing yourself is that you're absolutely going to do it and they begin to panic. Yes, I have suicidal thoughts, but I don't want to die.

It's a confusing feeling, it's a scary feeling.

When the depression takes over you feel like you aren't in control. It's like you're drowning.

Every bad memory, every single thing that hurt you, every bad thing you've ever done comes back and grabs you by the ankle and drags you back under the water just as you're about the reach the surface. It's suffocating and not being able to do anything about it.

The hardest part is you never know when these thoughts are going to come. Some days you're just so happy and can't believe how good your life is, and the very next day you could be alone in a dark room unable to see because of the tears welling up in your eyes and thinking you'd be better off dead. You feel alone, you feel like a burden to everyone around you, you feel like the world would be better off without you. I wish it was something I could just turn off but I can't, no matter how hard I try.

These feelings come in waves.

It feels like you're swimming and the sun is shining and you're having a great time, until a wave comes and sucks you under into the darkness of the water. No matter how hard you try to reach the surface again a new wave comes and hits you back under again, and again, and again.

And then it just stops.

But you never know when the next wave is going to come. You never know when you're going to be sucked back under.

I always wondered if I was the only one like this.

It didn't make any sense to me, how did I think about suicide so often but not want to die? But I was thinking about it in black and white, I thought I wasn't allowed to have those feelings since I wasn't going to act on them. But then I read articles much like this one and I realized I'm not the only one. Suicidal thoughts aren't black and white, and my feelings are valid.

To everyone who feels this way, you aren't alone.

I thought I was for the longest time, I thought I was the only one who felt this way and I didn't understand how I could feel this way. But please, I implore you to talk to someone, anyone, about the way you're feeling; whether it be a family member, significant other, a friend, a therapist.

My biggest mistake all these years was never telling anyone how I feel in fear that they would either brush me off because “who could be suicidal but not want to die," or panic and try to commit me to a hospital or something. Writing this article has been the greatest feeling of relief I've felt in a long time, talking about it helps. I know it's scary to tell people how you're feeling, but you're not alone and you don't have to go through this alone.

Suicidal thoughts aren't black and white, your feelings are valid, and there are people here for you, you are not alone.

If you're thinking about hurting yourself please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit suicidepreventionhotline.org to live chat with someone. Help it out there and you are not alone.

Your Guide To Better Mornings, For The 'Not-Morning People' People

Since I was a kid, I have always been an early riser. It is common when you are younger to wake up hours before any adult would want to, yet at age 18 it hasn't yet worn off on me. Most of my friends aren't even thinking about making plans for the a.m. on the weekends at college and on our lazy days at home over break, And I don't blame them. I would love to be able to sleep in, but I am never able to make myself stay in bed into the late morning. But I have begun to think that the reason I am always up and moving is that I love mornings. There is no better time of day than when you are just waking up and everything is a little slow and quiet. And over the years I have made a routine for myself that I wouldn't sacrifice to another hour of sleep.

If you are one of the people who doesn't appreciate an early start to the day, either by rushing right through them or staying up late so you can skip right over them, a routine that you enjoy can make the days where you have no choice but to confront the mornings hours a little more bearable.

Preparing a breakfast the night before can make it a little bit easier to skip the snooze and start your day well. There are hundreds of options, you just need to find what is right for you and what can motivate you to leave the warmth of your bed. A favorite of mine is overnight oats because it uses a few ingredients and is easy to make at home or in a dorm. If you are someone who doesn't have an appetite in the morning, making your favorite coffee or tea can give you time to wake up before jumping into a busy day.

Waking up with enough time is important to not feeling rushed and being able to enjoy a little morning routine. Though getting sleep is necessary and precious when you are a student or working, that extra 15 minutes would be better used awake than asleep. Using an app like Sleep Cycle is free and allows you to set an interval in which you want to wake up, and it will go off during your lightest sleep so you won't be as groggy.

Past 10 p.m., I don't want to do more homework and only want to crawl into my bed and watch an episode of "The Office" instead of finishing up assignments for the next day. Leaving a little bit of work for the morning can make you feel productive, if it is achievable. Setting aside an essay to do before 8:30 probably won't happen. But reading an article or submitting a comment online can start your day feeling focused.

With the start of a New Year, and many of us back on campus trying to adjust to early classes and busy days, mornings can be a time to set aside for yourself and start your day well as opposed to a dreaded alarm clock and hurried walk to class. Making an effort to find a routine that works for you can make your days a little less stressful.